Ohio State’s Board of Trustees approved Sergio Soave as chair of the Department of Art after an announcement Aug. 1 by Karen Bell, dean of the College of Arts.
“Sergio Soave is a gifted administrator and accomplished artist and we are fortunate that he will be leading our highly acclaimed Department of Art,” Bell wrote in an e-mail. “Professor Soave comes with a reputation for valuing the distinct disciplines in the fine arts and facilitating interdisciplinary initiatives and curricula. We are delighted that he and his wife Melissa have joined our OSU community.”
According to a recent press release, Soave was a professor of printmaking at West Virginia University and he acted as chair of the Division of Art since 1997. He has a master of fine arts degree in printmaking from West Virginia University and a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Windsor.
In an e-mail to The Lantern, Soave said he was excited about joining the Department of Art.
“The art department at the Ohio State is a recognized leader in the education and training of professional artists,” he wrote. “The faculty are world class artists and teachers, two areas of the program are nationally ranked and the students are talented and exceptional.”
Soave, a native of Windsor, Ontario, is a professional artist whose computer works, lithographs, silk-screen prints and etchings have been in more than 120 exhibitions. According to the press release, his work is displayed in public collections at the Butler Museum of Art, the University of Windsor, The Royal Museum of Antwerpen, Ohio University Art Collection, the Print Consortium, West Virginia University, Bradley University and many other institutions. Most recently his work was displayed in his solo exhibition, “Carnivale,” at the Diego Rivera Museum of Art in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Soave contributed some of his work to E.C. Cunnigham’s books, “Printmaking: A Primary Form of Expression” and “Contemporary American Printmaking.” Soave has been an Artist in Residence at many institutions including the Frans Masereel Studio in Belgium, the Peacock Printmaker’s Workshop in Aberdeen, Scotland, the University of Georgia’s Cortona Program and the Snowshoe Institute in West Virginia.
“The future for the department is very bright and I am looking forward to working with the faculty, students, and staff in continuing our great tradition as a progressive art program,” Soave said.
